Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces its July panel, Reinventing Off-Broadway for a New Audience: Site-Specific, Interactive and Immersive Theater on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre's Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, 3^rd floor, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm.

Panelists include Ryan Bogner, Director of Creative Development and Production for RKO, and producer of the upcoming The Orion Experience scheduled for Manhattan's XL Nightclub; Rachel Chavkin, director of club-crowd phenomenon Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Maria Goyanes, director of special projects for The Public Theater including the audience immersiveHere Lies Love; Stephanie Ybarra, artistic associate at The Public Theater; Stephen Squibb of Woodshed Collective whose site-specific works have included The Tenant at the West Park Presbyterian Church & Parish House, Herman Melville's The Confidence Man on a decommissioned Coast Guard ship and 12 Ophelias in McCarren Park pool; Ana Margineanu & Molly Morris of PopUP Theatrics, a new company dedicated to site-specific/site impacting theatrical events in collaborations with theater artists worldwide.

With the economics of off-Broadway making it increasingly difficult for productions to break even, producers are now searching for models that can infuse fresh life into theater beyond the branded Broadway fare. In an effort to attract new and younger audiences, there is a great deal of experimentation with hybrid theatrical experiences that blend in elements of club-going, livestreaming or even texting and other now-normal forms of inter-activity. This panel will explore the recent success of site-specific, interactive and immersive theater experiences, jumping off from the current successes of shows like Natasha & Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Here Lies Love and Murder Ballad and extending to less high-profile works from smaller companies.  Attendees will learn the logistics of producing for these types of productions, the challenges of using non-traditional spaces and how to reach new audiences with these new models. 

Admission is $12 (free for TRU members).  Please RSVP by email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com or by phone at (212) 714-7628 at least one day in advance.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is a twenty-one year old 501c3 nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of theater. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.

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